INDEPENDENCE DAY
(Honoring those who helped gain our independence)
  
MUSIC & WORSHIP RESOURCES

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Darrell R. Alexander, Guest Lectionary Liturgist
Director of Arts, Music & Worship of Union Memorial United Methodist Church, St. Louis, MO

1. Litany – Liberation

Old Testament Readings:
Exodus 3:7-10; Leviticus 25:13, 18; Isaiah 61:1-3; and Psalm 18:

Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people, who are in Egypt: I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters.

Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey…

The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them.

So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.
    
In this year of jubilee you shall return, every one of you, to your property. You shall observe my statutes and faithfully keep my ordinances, so that you may live on the land securely.”

The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,

To bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners;

To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;

To provide for those who mourn in Zion—to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.

The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

New Testament Readings:
John 8:31-32, 36; Romans 6:17-18; 2 Corinthians 3:17; Galatians 5:1, 13;
and Titus 3:3-5

Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another.

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another.

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

2. Hymns and Congregational Songs
(a) Lift Every Voice and Sing. By James Weldon Johnson. Tune by J. Rosamond Johnson

(b) When We All Get to Heaven. By Eliza E. Hewitt. Tune, (Heaven) by Emily D. Wilson

(c) God of History—Recent, Ancient. By Jane Parker Huber. Tune by Roland H. Prichard

3. Spirituals or Traditional Songs
(a) Oh, Freedom. Traditional Negro Spiritual. Arr. by Valeria A. Foster

(b) Walk Together Children. Traditional Negro Spiritual. Arr. by Evelyn Simpson-
Curenton

(c) Go Down, Moses. Negro Spiritual

4. Gospel Songs for Choirs, Ensembles, or Praise Teams
(a) My Liberty. By Carl Preacher

(b) Oh the Joy That Came to Me. By G. E. Patterson

(c) Come Unto Me. Arr. by G. E. Patterson

5. Liturgical Dance or Mime Music
(a) Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee. Arr. by Mervyn A. Warren

(b) Praise Your Pains Away. Written by Darrell R. Alexander

(c) Glory, Glory Hallelujah. Traditional. Arr. by Carl Haywood

6. Anthems
(a) Lift Up Your Heads O Ye Gates. Arr. by Glenn Burleigh

(b) Sing Unto God. By George F. Handel

7. Modern Songs
(a) God of Freedom, God of Justice. By Shirley Erena Murray and Henry Smart

(b) We Serve a Mighty God. By Kevin Pringle

(c) Hold Out. By David Frazier

8. Song or Instrumental for the Offertory Period
(a) The American Millennium Medley. By Darrell R. Alexander

(b) I’m Free. By Charles Nicks

9. Song or Instrumental for the Period of Prayer
(a) We Shall Walk Through the Valley in Peace. By A. L. Hatter. Arr. by Joseph Joubert

(b) Somebody Here Needs a Blessing. By Eddie A. Robinson

(c) I Am Kept by the Grace of God. By Jimmy Dowell. Arr. by James Abbington

10. Sermonic Selection
(a) Holy Thou Art God. By Richard Smallwood

(b) When I Survey the Wondrous Cross. By Gilbert Martin

(c) Changed. By Eddie A. Robinson

11. Invitational Song or Instrumental
(a) Where He Leads Me. By E. W. Blandy and John Samuel Norris

(b) We Shall Overcome. Traditional. Arr. by Jefferson Cleveland

12. Benediction Song or Instrumental
(a) God of Our Fathers. By Daniel C. Roberts. Tune, (National Hymn) by George W.
     Warren

(b) Spiritual Medley. Arr. by Glenn Burleigh

(c) The Star Spangled Banner. By Francis S. Key. Tune, (Star Spangled Banner) John S.
Smith

• Show slides of American landmarks, such as The Liberty Bell of Philadelphia, The White House, The Lincoln Memorial, etc.
• Put together a montage of Independence Day images that concern your state and your city. These may be  historic images and those that concern current events in your community that coincide with Independence Day.

Cites and Additional Information for Music and Material Listed Above